Ron Littlepage: River caucus keeps St. Johns in the forefront

The secret to getting things done in Tallahassee is to get the attention of legislators.

It helps if you are an influential state senator like John Thrasher.

To sharpen the legislative focus on issues facing the St. Johns River, Thrasher came up with the idea of establishing the St. Johns River Caucus, made up of legislators who represent counties that touch the river.

Last Monday, the caucus met for the fourth year in the Senate Chambers with solid attendance by senators and representatives, including members of the Duval Legislative Delegation.

As someone who has long advocated for the St. Johns, it was good to hear legislators who have the ability to get things done call the river a “treasure” and stress the importance, as Thrasher did, of “the health and vitality of this great river.”

That kind of recognition for the St. Johns in Tallahassee hasn’t always been the case.

“Your investment is paying off,” Lisa Rinaman, the St. Johns Riverkeeper, told the members of the caucus.

And Herschel Vinyard, secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, said the money the Legislature has approved in the last few years to improve the river’s health is paying dividends.

“We are a long way toward achieving our goal for nutrient reduction,” Vinyard said. “We are not there yet, but the river is much healthier than it was just a few short years ago.”

Those of us who put emphasis on the “we’re not there yet” part tend to concentrate on what still needs to be done instead of what has been done.

And good things have been accomplished, especially by utilities that have significantly improved the quality of the effluent from wastewater treatment plants going into the river thus reducing the nutrient load that can lead to toxic algal blooms.

It’s easier to persuade legislators to do more if they can see good results from past actions.

And there are still challenges ahead.

More farmers need to adopt the best management practices that reduce the amount of fertilizer and water from the aquifer they use.

Much more needs to be done by all, not just farmers, to conserve water to lessen the need — if not completely erase it — to take water from the river to meet the requirements of future growth.

Fertilizer use by everyone needs to be better regulated.

Storm water runoff has to be dealt with as do septic tanks that add to the pollution.

On issues such as those, Vinyard had a disturbing message for members of the Duval delegation in attendance.

When it comes to conservation and the reuse of treated wastewater, Jacksonville is last when compared to other urban areas.

JEA must do a better job, which raises an interesting question about Mayor Alvin Brown’s plan for JEA to come up with $560 million to bail the city out of its pension mess.

If JEA has extra money lying around, it would be better spent on its obligations to improve the river’s health.

Jacksonville is also doing a poor job of meeting the goals included in an agreement with DEP for treating storm water runoff.

And that requires some explaining since the city has been collecting a storm water tax put in place for just that purpose.

Water quality issues are gaining traction in Tallahassee this legislative session, especially our suffering springs and the troubled Indian River Lagoon.

The St. Johns River deserves a front row seat in those discussions. The caucus Thrasher put in place can help ensure that. He deserves to be commended. It’s working.